Major Enviro500 order and new Ontario plant for ADL

425328 Nov 2014International

Alexander Dennis is developing a new manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada which will produce double-deck buses for Metrolinx, the transportation authority for Greater Toronto and Hamilton. The deal involves 250 new low-height Enviro500s over the next five years. with an option for a further 150 vehicles.

ADL already has almost 125 double-decks operating in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, and the new lower height buses will be able to access four major terminals that cannot be served by double-decks at present due to height restrictions.

“This initiative is the result of a seven-year business relationship with Metrolinx that has gone from strength-to-strength,” says Colin Robertson, ADL chief executive. “It involves a multi-year, exclusive agreement for the supply of double-deck buses and marks a milestone for ADL. It also reinforces the reputation and performance credentials of our Enviro500 high capacity, three-axle double-deck range, which is now proving to be a winner in continents around the world.

“We look forward to becoming a fully-fledged contributor to the local economy, creating jobs and extending our supplier network. The first part of that process will be the introduction of an ADL chassis assembly facility in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. This will create up to 30 jobs and construction will begin in the middle of next year with the first of the new 250 low-height double-decks being delivered in early 2016.”

ADL says it now earns around half its revenue from export markets including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia and North America where ADL fleets now operate in Toronto, New York, Washington DC, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and Ottawa.

“This latest order will see the double-deck establish itself as the backbone of the bus fleet in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and provide the springboard for ADL to expand further in Canada and the USA,” says Robert Davey, ADL group commercial and business development director. “It is a welcome extension to our growing global footprint and has been achieved with formidable support from UK Export Finance, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group.”